Chapter 14 – A Visit from Lucius

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot. None of the characters or places are mine. Anything you recognize belongs to J.K. Rowling.

A/N: Two chapters in one day. Lucky you. Enjoy, then review.

What stood before him was Lucius Malfoy, an evil grin on his face, standing with Hermione in his arms, his wand to her temple. As a result of being in Azkaban, he looked dirty and gross, his jail suit ripped in different places, his hair greasy and knotted, his face scruffy and unshaven.

"Draco," his father greeted him with a sneer.

"Father," was his reply, with every ounce of disgust that he could muster, pressing the button on the coin that he had been given by Dumbledore less then two hours beforehand.

"I see you've made friends with a Mudblood....too good of friends judging by the rather large ring on her finger. When did this happen, son?" Lucius asked Draco, holding up Hermione's hand and letting the ring on her finger hit the light.

"It's nothing, Father, as she's engaged to the Weasel," he said with a sneer matching his father's, "as if I, a Malfoy, would fall in love with a Mudblood."

The look on Hermione's face once he uttered those words was one filled with extreme hurt and disappointment. She managed to blink back tears and appear tougher then she really felt in front of Lucius and Draco. She put on the toughest face she could and acted like Draco's words had no impact on her at all.

"Very well, Draco, then it should be easy for you to torture her, am I correct?" Lucius asked him with a smirk, "but maybe I should do it, just to save time."

"Is it truly necessary to torture her? I mean, there's so many others in this school that you could torture, why her?" Draco asked, trying to convince his father to leave Hermione alone, but to no avail.

"I know son, but I plan on torturing them as well as this Mudblood," Lucius replied, placing Hermione in between the both of them and locking her legs and feet together, "Crucio."

A jet of blue light left his wand and hit Hermione with a great impact. The pain was unbearable but Hermione knew she had to withstand it, because she knew that, despite Lucius's escape, she would marry Draco in the end. Once the spell wore off, she fainted to the floor from the pain. The last thing she saw was Draco preparing to fight his father as the professors barged through the door.

"Mr. Malfoy, I need to ask you to calm down. Miss Granger will awaken in time, just wait," Madame Pomfrey told Draco as he paced the hospital wing in front of Hermione's bed, a week later.

He nodded in response but didn't stop pacing. He was worried sick about her and didn't think she was going to wake up. He had been pacing every day for a week now and Hermione still had yet to awaken. He didn't like this, he didn't like it at all.

If she doesn't awaken from this, I swear to Merlin that I'll kill Lucius, he thought to himself, looking at Hermione for a moment before continuing his pacing. It was growing late, and Harry and Ron had left a couple of hours before. They had been there every day for the past week, but only stayed for a few hours, at the most. Draco, however, spent the night most nights, and, if he didn't, he could hardly sleep. He spent every free moment he had there and personally, he was annoying Madame Pomfrey quite a bit.

As Draco was pacing, he saw his love stir out of the corner of his eye. He stopped pacing and watched her, his eyes showing signs of hope. A minute or so later, her eyes fluttered open and she looked around. Her eyes rested on Draco and began to fill with tears at the sight of him and the memory of the words he has spoken to his father a week before.

"Draco," she whispered.

"Mione, you're awake!" he exclaimed, rushing over to her and giving her the biggest hug he could without hurting her.

She hugged him in return and wiped her eyes with a tissue that she got off of the nightstand next to her hospital bed.

"Draco, you didn't mean what you said, did you?" she asked softly, her eyes, once again, filling with tears.

"Of course not, Mione. I had to say something, or else my father wouldn't have stopped at just torturing you, he would've gone so far as to kill you. If I had let that happen, I wouldn't be able to live with myself," he told her, pulling her into another hug.

"Oh Draco," she cried, wrapping her arms around him and crying into his shoulder.

After she had calmed down a bit, she asked, "whatever happened to Lucius anyway?"

"Well, once I saw him standing there with his wand to your head, I pressed the button on the coin Dumbledore gave me, and waited for them to come. Once you fainted, I was preparing to take on my father. As I was going to say a curse, Snape, McGonagall, and Dumbledore barged in with Fudge and some Dementors. They performed the kiss on my father right then and there, which was a scary thing to see. They then took him away and brought you down here," he told her, not leaving out anything.

"How long have I been here?" she asked, watching him.

"A week."

"Really?"

"Yeah, you've been sleeping the entire time though."

She nodded and lay back down on her pillow. At that moment, Madame Pomfrey rushed in and checked on her, making sure she was alright and able to leave as soon as possible.

"You look like you're back to normal, Miss Granger. You may leave as soon as you change," she told her, smiling at Hermione and going back into her office.

"Draco, where are my clothes?" Hermione asked him, looking around.

He pulled out a pair of jeans and a tank top, plus a bra and underwear for her, out of his bag and handed them to her. She slowly got out of bed and walked to the bathroom to change, stretching her sleepy muscles along the way. Once she got back, fully clothed and out of the hospital gown, Madame Pomfrey let her and Draco leave.

"Dinner is just beginning, so head down there now," she told them, walking out of the door ahead of the happy couple.

Hermione gave Draco a quick kiss and rushed out of the hospital wing with him, her stomach suddenly feeling very empty.

Once they got back to the dining hall, they sat down at the table and put food on their plates. They ate quickly and went back to their common room. Hermione showered and put her pajamas on, then joined Draco in the common room, where he was getting ready for their Prefect meeting.

When Ginny walked into the room a few minutes later, she shrieked and ran over to Hermione, engulfing her in a hug.

"Mione!! You're finally awake!"

"Gin, I can't breathe."

"Sorry, I'm just happy you're awake. All of us were worried sick, even Blaise."

"Thanks, Gin."

During the prefect meeting, they talked about different ideas for the Valentine's Day ball. They knew they had time, but they were still excited. At least the girls were anyway. Once the meeting ended, the Prefects left and Hermione and Draco laid down on the couch and watched the glow of the fire in the fireplace. A few minutes later, Draco felt Hermione's breathing become even and let sleep overcome him as well.

A/N: how was it? Read and review, please.